


Check the List

by WonderingWanderer



Category: Karrin Murphy - Fandom, The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-11 02:03:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17437790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WonderingWanderer/pseuds/WonderingWanderer
Summary: Harry Dresden spends his first Christmas with Maggie





	Check the List

Because there was a job and, really, only one person to do it. You know it’s true. . .

Harry October 31st, my birthday gift was Trick or Treating with Maggie. Karrin gave me that, then a good, long kiss the likes of which I’d dreamed of for months. And only after all that did she say she’d accepted a job that would take her out of town for most of the next 2 months. Trick or treat.

By the time Christmas rolled around I was frustrated and happy at the same time, just never sure which emotion would define my day. Michael told me to spend as much time as I could manage with Maggie over the holiday season and Charity made sure we had quiet, simple things to keep us occupied since neither Maggie nor I knew what we should be doing as Christmas approached. I guess we were still feeling our way toward family. The time was good for me and Maggie seemed to enjoy anything we tried to do, but after she went to bed and I went back to the apartment, I had too much time to think and let my imagination wander. I’d thought maybe Karrin and I would be wrapped up in holiday spirits together this year. Her job, which she wouldn’t talk about at all, took most of her time and she’d been honest when she said it meant being out of town a lot. I only saw her 3 times, never for more than a couple of hours. Some days there was a slow burning anger in me, other days an aching emptiness because she wasn’t there with us. Maybe just with me. None of our friends seemed to know details of her mysterious job, though Georgia mentioned Murphy worked it last year as well and thought the job had been good for her. 

And then it was Christmas Eve. I sat on the floor at the Carpenter’s, putting together the red bike Maggie wanted, doing a good imitation of Scrooge, pre ghosts, and unwilling to admit to myself that the person I wanted sitting next to me, reading the directions and critiquing my work was still somewhere else and I didn’t know when I’d see her. Stupid holidays, there was a reason I’d never celebrated. . . but then the whole evening took a strange turn with Winter visitors, the Kringle experience for me and then Maggie. The best Christmas ever. Pure magic.

Kringle When I got back from Christmas rounds, the workshop stood dark and quiet. After so much work everyone deserved a good rest. Bright moonlight spilled through the windows on one side of the building. I looked through the shadows toward the back of the room, knowing she was there, waiting for a report. “It went very well, Ms Murphy. Your work on my list was every bit as good as last year.” She stepped out from behind the counter where she’d spent the evening, nodded to me, then reached for her jacket and gloves. “You were spot on about the gifts for your friends, especially Dresden.” I paused, wanted to make sure the next part came out right. “I’m curious. Didn’t you want to spend the holidays at home this year, with someone, for a change? I believe our friend Harry expected. . .well, hoped, that you’d be in Chicago with. . .”

Murphy put on her jacket, tilting her head toward the moonlight coming through the window. When she spoke, her voice came to me soft, clear and sure. “Christmas with his daughter was what Harry needed, even if he didn’t realize it. He’ll only ever get one first Christmas with her. And Maggie, after all that’s happened to her, her first Christmas with her dad should be something just for them.”

“Maggie Dresden is the same age you were when your father died, isn’t she. Strange how first and last sometimes overlap . . .”

“Let it go, please. I wanted Harry and Maggie to have something just for the two of them. You say they got it. And Harry deserved a good memory restored.” She put on her gloves and a warm hat before looking over at me. “We’re done.”

“For this year, yes, we are. Can I offer you a ride home?”


End file.
